*Images with asterisks* and text below in italics from The Official Transformers web site:ARCEE may be the most skilled fighter among the AUTOBOTS on Earth. She works constantly to keep her edge, knowing that one mistake could cost her and her teammates everything. Your fierce ARCEE figure is ready to make big trouble for the DECEPTICONS! In robot mode, your ARCEE figure has a blade and a blaster that combine to make her a serious threat. Convert her to motorcycle mode when the weapon she needs is speed! Keep converting her back and forth so she can handle whatever her enemies throw at her!

Includes figure. Deluxe Class Series 1 005 ARCEE. Ages 5 and up.

For most buyers, this Arcee may be the first Deluxe Class version they are able to get their hands on, but this is actually the second version of Arcee in the Deluxe Class. Like many of the characters from the first season of the television show, Arcee was also part of the "First Edition" wave given limited release in late 2011. This version of Arcee is a completely different sculpt from the "First Edition", but I do recommend a quick look at my "First Edition" Arcee review to get an idea of what came before.

Vehicle Mode:
Arcee's vehicle mode is a "ninja" style motorcycle. Complete with sleek lines and sharp angles, Arcee looks like she's moving fast even when standing still! her look borrows a lot from her CGI model on the television show including the distinctive angled panels on the sides of the vehicle that have a layered look (taking a cue from the live action movie aesthetic) and several pointed sections on the back of the vehicle (including the back of the seat and the section over the rear wheel). Smaller details are present too such as the gauges behind the windshield and chain details sculpted into the inner worings of her wheels. Overall it's a solid sculpt and shows that just because this may have been a "later" sculpt than the First Edition, it doesn't necesarily make it a bad one.

Arcee is cast in metallic blue, black and translucent blue plastic in this form. The metallic blue used is a different color than the one found on the "First Edition" figure, which was decidedly darker in tone. This one is brighter, and matches a bit more with the animated model from the television show. The black plastic is found on parts such as her wheels, the steering grips and the gauges. As you've probably guessed, the translucent plastic is found on the windshield and headlight area. The translucent blue in particular is an interesting color as it doesn't just use clear plastic. Instead, there is a bit of a frosting effect applied to the plastic that gives it an almost metallic appearance. This is rather uncommon and I like it quite a bit!

Paint decos are done in two colors: silver and metallic blue. The silver is found on various sections including the aforementioned "chain" details on the wheels and the side panels of the motorcycle. The metallic blue is used on the front end to color the parts of the headlight/windshield section that should be "solid". If you look hard, you'll see the slight difference between that blue and the blue plastic on the rest of the figure, but it doesn't look bad at all. Indeed, the main difference is that the blue paint is slightly shinier than the blue plastic.

Arcee can roll on both wheels and there is a kickstand provided on the left side to allow the vehicle to stand unassisted. The front wheel has holes on either side to accomodate standard 5mm peg weapons. To that end, Arcee includes two weapons. One is a blade weapon based on the ones she uses on the television show. The other is a cannon (or rifle if you prefer, it's kind of hard to tell). This longer weapon is made to combine with the blade into a bayonet styled weapon (with a Cybertronian twist of course). If you prefer the cannon/blaster on the side of the vehicle, there is a peg on either side of the vehicle that can accomodate the small hole on the handle of the cannon. Note: I'm not sure if this was by design or not, but you'll want to be careful with this as the peg is not particularly big and relatively speaking the cannon is putting some pressure on it so it could break if you're not careful. The blade weapon does not attach to the sides however.

So why pegs on the sides if not for the weapons included with Arcee? Well, in an interesting bit of design continuity, these pegs are actually made so "Robots in Disguis" Arcee can use the weapons included with "First Edition" Arcee! In this mode, both of "First Edition" Arcee's weapons can attach to the sides, a feature which I give kudos to the designers for including!

Transformation to Robot Mode:

Remove the weapons if attached and set them aside for now.

Swing the large panels on the sides of the vehicle out.

Flip the vehicle over and pull the robot legs back (they form the mid-section and rear wheel).

Separate the halves of the rear wheel.

Swing the rear wheel halves up into the lower legs.

Right near the seat section of the vehicle mode, swing out both robot arms.

Swing the front end of the vehicle back, this will also move Arcee's head up until it clicks into place.

Swing the hip section back until it snaps into place.

Arcee's weapons can be put into either fist or attached to either forearm.

Robot Mode:
In this form, it becomes quite obvious that "Robots in Disguise" Arcee is smaller in size than her "First Edition" counterpart, but given that this is the reality of today's "Transformers" toy line, I don't think that should count against this figure at all. It's still within the Deluxe size scale, albeit a smaller Deluxe than we're used to. In the case of Arcee, this smaller size actually works since Arcee is one of the smallest members of "Team Prime".

Much of Arcee's vehicle mode winds up on her back in this verison of the character. While some view that as a cheat, I see it as a good opportunity for the robot mode sculpt to have more accuracy to the television show model. In this case, that does play out as her robot mode does utilize a lot of the detail seen in the CGI model. This includes a torso section that looks less like parts of the vehicle mode make it up and more like a series of armor plates layered over each other as they appear on the television show. Her other details are also nicely sculpted including her head with its high crest and helmet that wraps around her face and her legs, which have pointed knee armor flanked by angled details that run down her lower legs. Even smaller details like the blade like protrusions on her wrists are present. It's a solid sculpt overall and I'm really happy with its accuracy to the television show.

All the same colors that came into play in the vehicle mode show up here. For the most part the palstic color patterns are accurate, with blue making up most of her form and black making up smaller sections like her shoulders, hands and feet. Arcee's eyes are translucent blue, allowing for light piping from the back of her head. Silver and red are used for her paint decos including those on her face, torso and legs. However, this is the only part where I think this figure fails a bit. The actual colors for certain details such as the angled lines on her lower legs and the edges of her helmet section is more of a light golden color and not silver. Granted, most folks who pick this up probably won't even notice the difference, but it stood out as I reviewed the figure.

There are thirteen points of articulation on this figure. This includes three on each arm and leg. This may not sound like a ton numerically, but many of these are ball joints, so her actual range of motion is pretty great and I have no problem with it at all. This form allows Arcee five attachment points for weapons. You can place 5mm peg weapons into her hands or attach them to her forearms. Also, thanks to the hole on the side of her front wheel, you can store an additional weapon her back. Of course, this may make her a bit "back heavy" so you'll have to add some additional armament on the front to make up for it!

Final Thoughts:
Between her weapon connection points in both modes and her posability, there's a lot of play value in this figure. Add to that show accurate sculpted details and you have a winner. My only gripe (and it's a relatively small one) is the silver versus gold paint used in robot mode. I think the designers kind of cheated on that one. The size difference between this figure and the "First Edition" really doesn't bother me at all. Recommended with that one caveat.